Iowa State and South Carolina will face off in the women's March Madness title game. The match pits the biggest stars in sports against a new money dynasty.
Sunday's showdown will be the culmination of a tournament that is shaping up to be a watershed for women's basketball. TV ratings are setting multiple records, Final Four ticket prices are soaring, and some of the NCAA's biggest stars (including Iowa's Caitlin Clark and South Carolina's Camila Cardoso) have announced they're turning pro. , which is a welcome boost for the WNBA.
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This particular contest is a dream matchup for Disney, and Sunday's final will be broadcast on ABC. It's also a nod to the sport's changing power dynamics. UW and Tennessee have spent much of the past 30 years doing the following: of A mainstay in women's basketball. As the sport's popularity has grown, other schools have emerged looking to share in the newfound commercial opportunities. Perhaps the most notable of these newcomers are Clark's Iowa State (second straight title game) and undefeated South Carolina (fourth consecutive Final Four appearance).
Ahead of Sunday afternoon's showdown, here's one important piece of business information about each team.
Iowa – Clarkmania
Iowa State sold out every home game this year, averaging 14,998 fans per game. That's up from 7,102 in 2019-2020, the year before Clark arrived in Iowa City. That season, the Hawkeyes reported $366,860 in women's basketball ticket revenue. Last season, the most recent financial data, the Hawkeyes reported him making $1.4 million. This number is likely to jump again once fiscal year 2024 numbers become available.
But the Clark-related ticket riches aren't just for Hawkeye. In Iowa State, all of the road games played this season were sold out. The Hawkeyes drew 18,660 fans to a game against Ohio State in January, an OSU record. The next week, when the Hawkeyes came to town, Northwestern was packed for the first time for that program.
South Carolina – Reverse Pay Gap
University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is a member of a very exclusive club where she is paid more than most men's college coaches. According to a seven-year contract signed in October 2021, Staley will earn a base salary of $3.1 million this year. South Carolina men's team coach Lamont Paris will be paid $2.3 million.
Staley is reportedly one of the highest-paid coaches in women's basketball this year, as she will also receive a six-figure bonus for her team's performance this year. USA Today. Among public school coaches, she is second only to LSU's Kim Mulkey ($3.3 million) and earns the same as UConn's Geno Auriemma ($3.1 million).
More March Madness stories:
– North Carolina Booster Club, NIL Collective Riding Final Four Gravy Train
– Players’ motion in NIL lawsuit puts Baker’s words at odds with NCAA
–WNBA has big plans to ride the momentum in women’s basketball
–Last 4 coaches realize experience pays off: Data Viz
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